


Reliable Egregious Disposable

by HailSam



Category: Undertale (Video Game), WALL-E (2008)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Swapfell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Berry Pile, Cherryberry - Freeform, Eventual Romance, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:41:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23977618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HailSam/pseuds/HailSam
Summary: Reliable Egregious Disposable, or R.E.D., is the lone robot on Earth taking care of it (in the best way he can).Bringing Life Unexpected-Earth Unit, or BLUE, thought this would be the same mission as it had always been for the past few decades.Their meeting causes the greatest turning point in Monster history...and in their own lives.
Relationships: Asgore Dreemurr/Toriel, Sans/Sans (Undertale)
Comments: 102
Kudos: 50





	1. The Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me:  
> https://twitter.com/sassyhaillive  
> https://www.pillowfort.social/HailSam  
> https://sassyhail.tumblr.com/
> 
> If you need on Pillowfort or even an invite here, let me know I'll help you out :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They meet. What a beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just love robots. And robots love me. Not in that way though. But if giant robots came from the sky I'd help hook them up with one another.
> 
> I'm a GREAT matchmaker!

Once upon a time…

Long, long ago…

Monsters and humans lived side by side in harmony…

Until one day, the humans started to turn bitter towards the monsters. The monsters felt no ill will towards them, but they grew worried and afraid as the humans started to become secretive.

Over time, monsters started to slowly withdraw from society, to the point that seeing one was very very rare, small myths and legends being made up due to their sightings, often called ‘cryptids’ even.

Humans eventually lost interest in their plotting, and society started to advance. Much, much too fast.

Within a century, the once luscious Earth became soiled and mechanical. The monsters saw the writing on the wall, and worked in secret to leave the humans to their fates. The humans, of course, were enraged and decided to work on their own ships. They didn’t want to abandon Earth, no. They were going to leave some workers behind to clean up the Earth. They envisioned it wouldn’t take longer than a year, perhaps a decade.

They made robots.

Little ones, based off of monsters. After all, they reasoned, they were the ones to abandon them, now they could do it in turn. They built all sorts, mostly for cleaning, some to come aboard their ships to take care of them, so on.

When they left, there were one million Reliable Egregious Disposable units on Earth.

Now, two centuries later, there was one.

~~

Reliable Egregious Disposable, or R.E.D., stuck to his commands day in and day out. He could feel rust settling into his joints over the years, but well, that was just the dangers of being what he was.

He was modeled after a small skeleton monster, with a round head and sharp teeth to grind up trash and metal, and his chassis could open to place different items. He was dark red, with black spots of rust in different places, and little treadmills on his feet.

Each day he rolled out, ducking out of the R.E.D dispatch truck with ease as the ramp lowered. Over the years it turned from a pristine steel vehicle into a rusted dump bucket on broken treadmills. One of the windows were broken due to the mass of sandstorms over the years, and sometimes the ramp would get stuck, but it was home for him and that’s what mattered most.

And then, he was off to work.

Deep in the jungle of the metropolis, what looked like large buildings towered above Red as he chirped along happily, skidding past trash piles, leaving dust clouds in his wake. The large buildings turned out to be towers of trash in squares, elegantly piled in a symmetrical way. Red was proud of it, and he hoped the humans would be too when they got back!

Today he was working on Elm Pile, a pile of trash near a green sign that read ‘Elm’ on it. He wasn’t sure what the Elm was, or why it wanted him to know about it, but he accepted the moniker for now.

He paused before the pile, slipping his hand up to his collarbone, an array of buttons slipping out from under the once-slick chassis (it was now slightly rusted, and rough to the touch). He tapped one, crooning to a song that played over his speakers as he got to work.

‘Strut down the street to have your pic-ture took~!’

He bopped along to it, piling the trash into his container ‘stomach’. It took a moment for the lever inside to squish everything in a perfect square, but in an instant he popped it out, letting it fall from his hands into a line with other perfect squares. He’d been working on Elm Pile for a week now, and he was sure he could get a very nice building up to admire!

He purred louder, albeit it was more of his cogs whirring along with each trash compact, before his systems beeped across his opticals. 

‘Break time’

Break time!

He made a trilling noise, zooming off with a wave to Elm Pile. It was time to find… _things_.

What a break time for the R.E.D meant was that they were supposed to inspect and ensure they were in proper working order…but…over the years…Red had found that he liked digging through various piles and finding old artifacts from the past. His favorite was a beautiful chime that tinkered in the wind.

Today he chose the River Pile, as it always had good things inside. He dug in, a small bag hanging from his hip to fill his treasures with.

Today he found a box-with a weird sparkling rock in it that he immediately threw to the side-a board with some sort of creature on it that started to sing when he tapped a button, and…

…and…

He reached into the pile, his opticals blinking and focusing the red lights on the boot he pulled from the trash. It had no laces, and felt pretty thin, but…

…inside the boot…

…was a little green…thing. 

A little green….thing.

He reached out slowly, his clawed scrapers gently curling around one of the green things. It felt soft. It felt cool. It felt like something he couldn’t explain.

So obviously, into the bag it goes!

With that, break time was over…and off he went back to work, keen on heading home to inspect his treasures.

~~

Red’s home was…interesting. He had a fuzzy rug thing that was once a bright color on the floor to cushion his treadmills. His chimes hung near the entrance. He had many crates and chairs and lamps stacked around, a trail evident through the small space that wasn’t cluttered. His sleeping chamber was on a ledge that would spin when he clicked a button, but he had decorated the others since his…um, since the others stopped functioning.

It held many bright things, and metal things, although he tried to find a space for his metal sharp-but-oval with his metal ovals and metal sharps, but no avail. Hm. Maybe he needed a new container!

For now, he wheeled away, chittering to himself as he wheeled over and sunk into a soft funny thing that felt plastic but cushiony! The humans would be so proud of him for saving all this! With that he reached up to the little bitty orange screen, hearing a whir of his favorite movie starting up.

”….it only takes…a moment,” the woman on the movie sang as she reached out to her love, and they finished the song, “to be loved…a whole…life through…”

Red watched in fascination, his hands slipping into his lap and cupping each other. They had each other. What was that like? He couldn’t recall the others now. His memory banks had started cycling through and dumping old files as the years went on. Beyond nabbing their treadmills for extra parts, and other things, he couldn’t recall a time they had ever worked together.

Would it be nice? To hold the scraper of another robot? Would it be strange? Would it be scary? He sunk back into the soft fluffy bag, staring with wide opticals as the movie continued. 

Lately he’d been…feeling…this deep thing in his chest. He thought it was overheating but he wasn’t, hadn’t been since he’d replaced his water pump about two decades ago. It felt like it though, as it spread over his chest, stealing his ‘breath’ away. He wanted…someone.

He wanted anyone.

But here he was. Alone. Until humanity came back, to praise his-and the other R.E.D.’s-efforts. To finally help them take back the planet. To perhaps…give him an alternative command. He’d like to collect treasure. He was good at that.

He made the tape play on loop-he had found a special section where it ONLY played that ONE song!!!-and slowly he slunk away, the ledge that was his bed slipping into view as he chugged his way in. He bent down, shutting down slowly with his arms around his legs.

Maybe someday…

~~

His friend, Little R, was back. Little R was a creature, the only one around, who occupied Red’s time by chasing after him or offering him hardened balls of ‘Twinkies’ and ‘Coconut Puffs’. He was the only one Red talked to, anymore, other than himself.

Little R seemed to run in circles once the ramp was down, squeaking at him and he perked up, even though he had already energized with his sunplates. “Ooooh!” He chirped out from his rusty speakers. “You you! Oooh…” He leaned down, holding out his hand for Little R who immediately raced up his arm, squirming himself into Red’s neck with a happy hum.

This day was just getting better and better!

…what was that?

He blinked, staring. A little red dot flicked its way over the dirt. He wheeled after it curiously, chirping at it in case it could talk back. He leaned down, squalling as it moved away quickly. “Ah! Nah!” 

He hurried over the bumps of the rocks and trash, Little R chirping along as he held on for the ride. The light didn’t want to sit still, but Red was adamant that he would catch it!

Which. He did! Sort of. A bunch of red lights came together under him and he cooed, reaching down and plucking at the earth in confusion. “Huh?”

A sonic boom echoed, and he looked up, squalling as a giant ship started to come down right over him and Little R! He squealed, rushing around in circles, before jumping and yanking his limbs into his chassis, his head sinking down and the slightly spherical chassis rolled down, awaiting whatever demise this was.

But…nothing happened.

He peeked out slowly, shaking. The rocket had missed him-barely-but the dirt around him was scorched beyond recognition. Oh, good, he was fine. So was Little R! Shaken up, but fine! He unfolded himself from his chassis, a hand on his chest as he took in a long sigh. Well! 

…what was all this now?

He peeked around a charred rock slowly, keeping Little R close to him. He watched as a long white arm peeled away from the rocket’s leg, slowly winding its way down closer to the ground. It flexed three long mechanical talons, all three pressing on an array of buttons, releasing a white pod. It punched a few more and then…

The pod slowly unsealed, revealing another robot.

Another monster robot.

Another _skeleton_ monster robot.

Red made a noise, ducking back down as the robot twisted around, staring for a long moment.

He pressed the image into his memory banks, not keen on forgetting this moment.

He was tall, although that might be because he was floating instead of using treadmills like Red was. He had light blue opticals, a cheery smile that held flat teeth instead of sharp, and his chassis was less round, more square with an odd panel on the left side.

Who…who was that?!

~~

Bringing Life Unexpected-Earth Unit, or BLUE as he was more known for, was…not too keen on this mission. Every few years, they tried to see if the Earth was suitable once more. After the humans fled for space, the monsters wanted to see if they could return to their once home, but to no avail.

BLUE after BLUE went down, finding nothing but toxic air, a wasteland, so on. 

He did feel hope that perhaps, this time, he would find something, but it was hard to be excited when every time he went back empty-handed, the Captain at the time would always look disappointed. People would be disappointed.

No time to think on that now! Time for action! He zoomed through the air excitedly, trying to pump himself up for anything and everything!

First he examined these…weirdly symmetrical trash buildings. They weren’t here last time right? No wait, he didn’t come over here, that was BLUE 5. Perhaps they hadn’t noticed it was all. Ah well. He scanned them with his panel, tapping at it nervously as he zoomed away towards another, and another, and another…

He was…pretty sure something was stalking him. Every so often he would stop suddenly, and he’d hear a dull ‘thunk’ as if something was stopping as well. He had shot, once, but hadn’t seen anything after the blast. Perhaps it was merely the echoes around this barren city.

All the same, he tread carefully. After all, he’d hate to return in need of repairs or a hard reset. Those times were always rough on the old motherboard. He sighed, shaking his head as he tossed an empty can to the side. He bounced from pile to pile, sometimes finding an interesting paper here, or there, but nothing that indicated life.

Nothing.

Not one single thing.

He settled on an old bench heavily with a sigh, the boards snapping under him and only one keeping him up, the metal arm rusted to oblivion. The waters out in the bay looked…well he wasn’t sure. Was water meant to be clear or dark blue? Or neither? But he did know the sun dipping down near the horizon was a sight he hadn’t seen on the ship before. It was nice. It was soothing.

It made his stalker get a little braver.

He didn’t move as said stalker slowly wheeled closer, then closer, and he twitched his head to the side, startling them.

Oh. It was a little R.E.D. Unit. …wait there were some around. He blinked his opticals as the unit shook in place with wide red opticals, their voice staticking here and there. He blinked again, shooting up eagerly. Perhaps this one will know of something!

”HELLO!” He waited for an answer, but only got more static. “BONJOUR? HOLA? NI HAO?”

”H-Hiiiiii,” the unit finally managed to get out and Blue nodded, clasping his hands in front of him.

”IT’S PLEASANT TO MEET YOU! WHAT IS YOUR DESIGNATION?” It was only proper to ask, after all, even if he already knew it.

The R.E.D. unit blinked, his scrapers curling together as he stared at Blue. “Rrrrreeeed…” it slowly pulled from him, as if it took a greater strength than he had. Blue nodded pleasantly.

”I AM BLUE! WHAT DO YOU DO?”

Red perked up, quickly gathering up a few pieces of trash as Blue watched in amusement. The chassis opened- _how scandalous!_ He had to remind himself this robot was not like his kind-and soon enough a little square of trash came out. Right, right. Red pointed at Blue with a blink. “Yooooou?”

Blue’s opticals blinked red error signs. “CLASSIFIED,” then they disappeared and he sighed. “BUT I HAVE YET TO FIND WHAT I CAME FOR. PERHAPS YOU COULD BE OF ASSISTANCE?”

Red blinked, and well…Blue didn’t have high hopes for this little human made robot. He was…kind enough, but still. The humans weren’t as advanced back then as they were possibly now, nor were they as advanced as the monsters were. Red nodded quickly, staring at Blue as if awaiting instructions.

Blue laughed softly, smiling. “THANK YOU. PERHAPS…HAVE YOU SEEN SOMETHING A LITTLE WEIRD AROUND? LIKE SAY-” All of a sudden the little robot yanked his arm, and he would have shot the other-or perhaps scolded him-were it not for the very loud angry alarms blaring from Red’s speakers.

And the brassy ones atop the poles.

He looked around in confusion, the sun now gone as the sky started to turn a dusty orange. Red’s staticked voice kept bouncing around, and-was that a roach on his shoulder?! Blue hid a shudder as he was pulled up into an old dispatch truck, Red frantically slamming the shut button just as rocks started smacking against the top of the truck. Blue frowned. “WHAT-”

Red stared at the top of the doorway with wide opticals, and then Blue heard it. A loud wind whipping around them, and from what he could tell, several of the trash blocks being thrown and battering the dispatch truck. Thankfully the truck had quite literally rusted to the ground or they’d be flung around, but still…

Red turned around swiftly, his scrapers curling and uncurling, chirping at Blue in an old binary language. Sadly, theirs had also evolved over the years, and it was like someone speaking old English to a modern person. Blue sighed, shaking his head. “I’M SORRY, I DON’T UNDERSTAND.”

Red just smiled, wheeling himself deeper into the truck. It was then Blue noticed the decorations. He reached out to the chimes, stroking over them slightly. How beautiful! There was a little fake duck and-

”Here’s a little song I wrote~! I like to sing it note for note~!” 

Blue immediately aimed his phaser at the fish and Red squalled, rushing over to push Blue away with broken whines, chirping as he held up a little cog. Blue took it in amusement, chuckling as Red rushed around, grabbing things he thought was interesting. “SO DO YOU…STAY HERE, ALONE, THEN?” He hadn’t seen any other R.E.D. units. Yet, at least.

Red chirped again, digging into something as Blue floated over to an old beat up TV. Ah, yes, this style was in fashion centuries ago. Ugly, but well, he could see how appealing it would be should one give it a better washing. He prodded at it, startling when a show came on.

…oh…what was this?

He leaned in with wide opticals as the woman took her gloved hand and gently laced it with her husband’s.

…oh…that…that was…

“Eh!”

He startled, turning around swiftly, prepared to give Red another bemused grin. Until his panel went haywired scanning what was in Red’s hands.

A boot.

A boot with a plant in it.

 _Developing life_.

And with that would come a series of events that neither robot nor the monsters aboard the Outer Tale ship would ever have seen coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure where this will go, nor how exactly child friendly it'll be in reference to the real movie. but like
> 
> ...........robots


	2. The Outer Tale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red gets to go exploring on a ship and meets all sorts of interesting monsters!
> 
> They meet Red, in return...and...
> 
> Hey...did the ship always have these windows? What a great view!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just rewatched Wall-E and missed a few cool bonding moments but like, let's be real. Even if Wall-E met Eve for all of a split second, he'd still chase her into space. That's like, his only new robot friend!!! Friends!!!!
> 
> but aah this won't end when the movie does! I want it to continue for a while. I have plans ;)

Red wasn’t often scared. Actually, he didn’t know what that quite meant. He could wheel himself up the sides of his trash building with ease without falling. He got rained on sometimes but it had been years since the rain burned. Now it just tinked pleasantly against his chassis and head. So, well, he didn’t know what being scared was like, in a way.

But now…now he could feel it. The way his internal cooling system kicked into gear frantically as Blue locked up, the little green thing being absorbed into a small slot on his chassis. All his lights went out, and he sunk back into that weird white oval that he was before Red had seen him pop free.

Red hesitated, slowly wheeling over and holding his scraper out slowly. “Bluuuuueee?” he whined out, gently nudging the white oval. Nothing. He whined again, nudging the other, but nothing. No noises. No lights. No indication he was heard.

He was alone.

Again.

…maybe…maybe he was just low on energy! Sometimes that happened to Red, if he was caught in a shadowy place, and all he could do was wait for a stray beam of sunlight to hit him. But don’t worry, Blue! Red was here! You wouldn’t have to be alone like that!

He nodded to himself. It was a new set of commands he gave himself! How thrilling!

~~

How…naive he had been. Blue was not like him. He did not have foldable solar panels like Red did, even when Red showed him how to take them out. He just floated there, beeping a small green icon at him. Oh.

He should have realized that Blue was different than him.

But no worries! He shall just stay nearby at all times to ensure Blue recharges completely! After all, if it wasn’t sunlight, perhaps he just…needed to go into standby mode until he was able to charge! There were a few robots like that…

He came out with Blue every day. He used a little rope of colorful lights to wrap around Blue’s oval, chirping happily as he climbed up onto the top of his dispatch truck and spending the morning recharge with him. At first he would take Blue along, showing him ‘the sights’. His favorite piles. His treasures. Cool things he would find.

But then he started to realize…he wasn’t getting his directive done! He was spending all this time tugging Blue along that none of the trash was getting blocked up!

It was with a heavy motherboard that he started to let Blue float on top of his truck instead of cart him around. He missed him, and would mope around during the day until it was time to go back, taking off at super speeds as if another Dust Storm was approaching.

Sometimes Little R appeared, and he would introduce them and pretend as if they were both friends. He didn’t know how Blue felt about Little R truly, as he hadn’t asked before he went into standby, but he was sure that Blue would love them as much as he did!!!

And then one day…

He’s out, not too far from the dispatch truck, sadly fishing through a pile of trash and looking over at the roof every so often. He just wanted someone to talk to, again. Someone that could talk back, at any rate. Blue still floated there, silent, sturdy.

…it was nice, though, all the same. Having someone waiting back at the truck for him, even if they couldn’t talk to him, or play the funny games with him that the humans had left behind.

And then he heard it.

He thought at first it was another Dust Storm, and he could feel his treads rev up to ensure his speedy departure, but none of his alarms were going off. He could feel the rumble in the earth though, and his head swung up to the sky.

Oh. That ship again.

Oh…

Oh!!!

He raced away, dropping the ball of foil back onto the River Pile as he chirped and stuttered frantically trying to get back to Blue in time. If he was late…would the ship take him away? Would it…leave Blue behind??? And then Blue would have no hope of leaving (which, while making…Red…happy, that would be a horrible thing to do to Blue!)…

He made it just as a long arm started to reach out for Blue, clasping him in the mechanical claws.

No!

He didn’t have breath to pant for, but he made the noises as his pumps worked overtime to launch him over the dusty ground as the long mechanical arm slowly brought the white oval back into one of the long legs. He didn’t have enough time, he was going to lose-!

The ship’s thrusters burst to life, and slowly it rose up and off the cracked and dusty ground, lifting into the air and breaking through into the empty void of space that surrounded the now dull brown planet.

Red grunted as he shifted, his scraper slipping between one panel of the ship, his orbitals flinching against the rough wind…and then…he was floating, his treads bumping against one another in the weightless space.

Oh! This was nice! He liked this! He crooned happily as he kicked through the empty void, his body swaying in tune to a song only he could hear. One scraper slid between a trail of star dust as they passed by, but none stuck to him, sadly.

What a trip.

How intriguing!

He hoped Blue was having a nice time as well…

~~

“Docking Interface Initiated,” a booming voice echoed through the bustling port as the B.L.U.E. ship started to dock inside. A little robot awoke from his sleep cycle, jostling the brush that was his arm attachments. 

His name was Bustlin’ Butler, or BB. A joking name that was actually from the humans, but the monsters just called the little robots BBs as they seemed small and fast on their wheels. A small purple light popped on top of his head, and he whistled sharply.

A group of other cleaning robots jumped to attention, and he humphed, rolling over the lit up path to where the ship was setting down all the B.L.U.E.s in a row. He chirped, his purple opticals flicking over one, another robot vacuuming over it, and another sanitizing it with a bright red light.

Then the next.

Then the next.

And then…his scanning caught something. His opticals narrowed, his brush lifting up higher. “WHOAWHOAWHOA,” he grumbled, and the team paused, waiting for his instructions. He wheeled closer, brushing lightly over the floating oval, getting rid of the layer of grime it held. There was an alert on it, so he chirped a command to two large security bots, and they rushed over to drag the BLUE onto a transport.

He nodded sharply, wheeling away, pausing as he did a double take. There, in the place of the BLUE, was the most _filthiest_ robot he’d ever laid eyes on. Said robot blinked red opticals, and chirped quizzically at him.

He snarled, his light bursting into play as he wheeled over quickly and started scrubbing away over the robot who sputtered and slapped at his brush, a staticked whine building up as he tried to move away.

BB hissed louder. “CLEAN!” he beeped, and then squalled when the other firmly planted a tread against his chest and pushed him away. What the he-!

And then he was gone, wheeling after the transport, squeaking, “Bluuuuue!”

BB narrowed his opticals, chirping at his team to go back to their bases and he snapped on a new brush. This damned dirty robot wouldn’t get away from him…

But first, the nasty little trail he left in his wake. He bent down, scrubbing away and huffing angrily. He WOULD get his revenge! By making him clean!

~~

Red had finally caught up with Blue…and…so many other robots. So many. So many in fact he wanted to duck away into the shadows, hide himself away. They were so pristine and clean and linear…

And then the bots took Blue off and he squalled, trailing after them immediately, beeping back an apology as he accidentally caused a small pile-up on his way after Blue.

…and then…there were _monsters_. Like. Living. Breathing. Monsters. Flesh monsters. Monsters that weren’t robots!!!

He was so in shock he nearly lost sight of Blue! He squalled, racing out again. The crowd of monsters was…well…interesting?? He supposed?

They all walked slowly, or were in chairs and were driven around. They had their faces tilted down onto hologram projections. Some were shouting at something, one or two were speaking calmly, others tapped quickly at the hologram. He could hear something about ‘golf’ and ‘you missed the swing!’ and ‘no, I’ll go to their other virtual concert though’. 

How strange. How odd. 

But he couldn’t stick around for that!

…except he wheeled right into a large goat man, knocking him off his feet and into some little helper bot. The goat man got up with a stumble, blinking in shock as he stared at Red. “…u-uh…” the monster said and Red blinked his opticals.

”Reeeeed!”

”A-Ah…Asgore…?” the monster sounded confused, and like he didn’t use his voice often. The goat man’s eyes flicked from him to the little bot nearby holding a tray and a fruity smoothie back to Red in confusion, the holo projection wavering in place above his hand as he blinked, then blinked harder, squinting his eyes tightly. He had a yellow beard, which was a pleasant color that Red had always liked, and a funny red suit.

Actually, they all had funny red suits on?? Wait no. Blue! “Blue???” 

”Ah. N-No, um, Asgore,” the goat pointed at himself as Red turned around, squawking as he pointed, waving his hands eagerly before rushing away.

“Bluuuue!”

”Buh-bye then…” Asgore waved his massive hand as Red wheeled away down the aisles of monsters. Asgore blinked again, rubbing a hand over one eye and looking around, then down at the little robot as he took the smoothie. “Thank you, my friend.”

The robot beeped in confusion, twirling after Asgore as he lowered his hand down with the holo projection on it.

My…were things always this bright?

Red managed to catch the little transit as they boarded, several monsters staring down at their projections. He managed to get around two, but another goat lady sat in a big red chair, tapping away at hers. She was in the way of him and Blue!!!

”It’s not that I think it’s bad,” she said, bringing something up on the projection and her eyes read over it quickly. “It just does not show the quick thinking that one would expect from her age gr-oh my!” She squealed as Red squeezed in front of her, accidentally making the projection fizzled out. “E-Excuse me!” She squeaked and he blinked, smiling brightly. 

”Reeeed!”

She blinked, then tilted her head to the side, then back at him. “Y-Yes…well…” He pointed over where the white oval was tied down and she nodded, pushing her chair back. “Yes, sorry, yes…”

The transit was quiet, although she kept looking around, staring at the odd silent monsters who tapped away on the projections.

When the transit dropped her off, Red could hear ‘When did we get a pool?!’ as they pulled away.

These monsters were so funny!!! But for now he had to help Blue. He cooed, patting the top of the white oval. Not to worry, Blue. Red would never abandon you!

The ended up sliding through a few doors, and he watched in awe, looking around. Everything here was dark for some reason! How odd! He turned, a large yellow robot tapped away on a screen. She looked up, her orbitals blinked, then looked down and hit a button. The doorway opened, and as they passed, Red waved enthusiastically at her.

She blinked, then lifted her right hand, slowly moving it up and down as they entered the elevator. She stared down at her hand in interest, no longer tapping buttons, and started to move her hand up and down, up and down.

…when could she do that? Hmm…

And then, Red and Blue were on their way…to meet the Captain of the Outer Tale.

Although, Red didn’t know what a captain was, but he was still excited at all these new things happening!

(…but would Blue want him around? With all these new and modern monster robots around? He was rusty and had treads and sometimes creaked without warning, and had to have replacement parts every two years…but maybe…maybe it would all turn out okay…)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know you probably know who the other goat monster is...but can you...hazard a guess on who the yellow robot is? 
> 
> And yes, all these robots are def gonna be bffs with Red and Blue. They'll appear more and more later on!!!


	3. Shake It Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red and Blue meet the captain...but...what happened to the plant?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like the idea of Alphys as a tired robo who does coding things but then there's this sentry bot who appears outta nowhere and like
> 
> Love.

Every day was the same.

Every single day.

Every. Single. Day.

Day in. Day out. 

Sans Aster had been Captain of the Outer Tale for the past...few decades, actually. As a skeleton, they were harder to age than other beings, and it had been passed down from his father, Gaster, who now enjoyed retirement by playing golf with one of the Entertainment Units.

He had inherited the position from his father, and from his father, and his father was the first captain of the ship. It wasn’t that they had exactly expected to go a linear way with this, no, but it was simpler to keep the ship going at a steady pace instead of having to involve politics like ‘voting’.

Which, honestly, could run on its own thanks to P.A.P.Y.R.U.S.

Peripheral and Pneumatic Yesteryear’s Running Unit-Space Class.

Or, Paps, as Sans had taken to calling him.

Paps WAS the ship, in essence. He controlled everything and knew all of what was going on at any time. So Sans wasn’t sure why they needed a captain to begin with, honestly.

All the same, over the years, Paps had...evolved from a cold hologram into an exuberant skeleton appearing AI who fussed over Sans’ health constantly. (Like his father, honestly, who called the ship his ‘second son’.)

But Sans had one thing he could do every morning that filled his little soul with joy: he got to raise up the sun.

A fake one, but for some reason, seeing that big ball of light against the light blue sky always made his soul thump a little faster. What a glorious sight. He wondered what a real day looked like…

Today, as usual, he dozed away in his fluffy twin bed that immediately started to roll away on a track towards the Captain’s Nest. He grumbled when a light flickered on, clutching his blanket close as a grooming bot pushed him to sit up, another one immediately scrubbing at his skull and making him sputter. “You look gorgeous, darling!” she chirped and he hissed.

“Stop iiiit, let me sleep…”

He groused until another little bot wheeled by with breakfast on a platter. A plate of eggs, two strips of bacon, toast, and his coffee at the perfect temperature with a dash of milk. Perfect.

...as...always.

He took the tray with a sigh as the bed morphed into a chair with ease-not like he ever really got up and did anything-and he adjusted his blanket across his lap. “Paps, what’s the time?” he grumbled, swiping at the sleep in his sockets.

Paps appeared, an orange hologram of a taller skeleton, more akin to Sans’ father, but with a different skull shape, wearing a suit with brass buttons instead of the red suit Sans had on. “IT IS 8 A.M. STANDARD TIME-”

“It’s day time?!” he sputtered, leaning forward and making the chair go as well. “I gotta pull the sun up! You know I like to do that.”

Paps didn’t answer, but Sans flicked on the set of dials, leaning back as he chewed into the bacon nervously, then cranked the dial to let the sun fly across the sky, fluffy clouds surrounding it in a cartoonish mimicry of the real thing.

“Good morning, all,” Sans echoed through the ship, everyone pausing what they were doing to turn their attention skyward for the few minutes it took to hear him. “It’s a sunny uh…”

“APRIL, SIR,” Paps chirped cheerily, a calendar unfolding on a screen with many little butterflies flying over the image to show the month.

“April day here on the Outer Tale. Gonna have a few sprinkles later this week, so if no one wants to deal with that, go home,” he leaned back, swiping up his toast to take a bite, one foot over the other as he jiggled it. “Otherwise get ready for ‘rain’. Make sure to try the banana-coconut-lime smoothie at your next kiosk visit. ‘S good, I’m told. Signing off now.”

And with that, the voice stopped echoing, and as if it had never happened, monsters moved on, their faces staring back at their holo projections or playing golf or even napping on long lounge chairs near the pool.

Sans clicked his teeth as the intercom shut off and Paps clapped eagerly. “ANOTHER WONDERFUL ANNOUNCEMENT, SIR! MIGHT I ASK THAT YOU NOT GET CRUMBS EVERYWHERE AGAIN?”

“Sure, Paps,” Sans shifted, licking a few from his thumb as he passed the now empty tray to the little bot that scooted away quickly. “So what’s on the agenda today?”

“AH, WELL...IT SEEMS...SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED!”

Sans blinked, adjusting his warm blanket over his sleepy body as he yawned. “Well, what is it then? I got napping ta get to.”

The hologram flickered and a transport with one of the BLUE robots laying on it approached. This time, there was a glowing green icon on its chest. He tilted his head, sitting up. “...what’s that about?”

Paps cleared his throat-despite having no throat to clear-and stood at attention. “THE PROBE FOUND A SPECIMEN AND WE NEED TO CONFIRM IT, SIR!”

“...a specimen.”

A specimen. Proof that their once home was, possibly, rejuvenating. It was exhilarating, it was joyous, it was…

Nerve-wracking.

What did it even look like? Sans-and others-had been born and raised here. He was used to not doing much, used to the cool A/C pulsing around them, used to controlling the seasons and the time of day and knowing his schedule inside and out.

(But that was also the problem. The repetitiveness. The lackluster. He had always wanted something new and exciting to happen as a child, but now? Now he was...well...not too old but he was too set in his ways to really have hope for anything like that.)

He nodded slowly. “S-Sure, sure. Um. I guess uh, wake him up.”

Paps nodded at the little robot who had guided the BLUE here, and with a few quick taps, Blue floated up slightly and slowly started to reboot. He gave a cheery smile at the captain as he floated in place. “BLUE NUMBER 28192 REPORTING FOR DUTY!”

Sans gave a soft laugh. The BLUEs always entertained him, always eager and kind when he saw them…”Okay so...you found the specimen then.”

“THERE ARE STEPS TO GO THROUGH, CAPTAIN!” Papyrus chirped, and in an instant the windows were shuttered closed as a long claw came through the ceiling, gripping a not-so-worried Blue in place.

Red, from where he peeked over the transport, gasped in shock and vibrated nervously. Did he go to help? What were they doing to him??

A long arm with a microphone approached Sans. “VOICE CONFIRMATION REQUIRED.”

Sans blinked. “Uh.”

His own voice echoed, “Uh, ACCEPTED.”

And then...they waited nervously as a long thin arm tapped a pattern on Blue’s console. Sans leaned away with wide eye lights as Paps just stood there, stoic-but with a smile-as always.

...and then there was nothing. At all. Inside.

Sans frowned. “Did we...miss a step?” he muttered to Paps as he leaned over the chair to look at the AI who shrugged with open hands, a book flinging from the ceiling as he held it. 

“HERE ARE ALL THE STEPS, WE SEEMED TO HAVE DONE THEM CORRECTLY…” Sans took it, staring at it in confusion.

“...how do I turn it on?”

While they were contemplating this, Blue nervously waved his hands through his empty container. ...where did it go-wait.

Wait.

Red! 

Red would know! 

He had seen the nervous little rust bucket earlier, but couldn’t speak out in case the others wanted to possibly toss him in the crushers. He squirmed free of the arm, which didn’t seem to keep him in place at all, and he zoomed over to the transport, shocking Red who squealed and backed up. “RED!” he whispered. “DID YOU GET THE PLANT?”

Red blinked, tilting his head, reaching out to pat-and dirty-Blue’s cheek with a trill. “Plaaaaant?”

Blue groaned, pushing his hand away. “RED, FOCUS. THE, THE GREEN THING.” He tapped over where the green icon still glowed and Red gasped, nodding.

“Plaaaaant!” 

...and then he turned around to start looking over the obviously empty floor. Blue’s optical twitched and he let out a soft groan. Did that mean Red didn’t have it or did he have it then lose it?? He decided that, should they both survive the dreaded Repair Ward-because no way was he avoiding that-that the first thing he was going to fix would be Red’s vocal box. He didn’t realize how hard it was to communicate with an older bot!

He heard a noise and quickly swept back over, acting as if nothing had happened as Sans sighed, shutting the ‘book’. “Well, guess it’s just a fluke. A uh, an error, if we will.”

“INDEED,” Papyrus nodded and Blue huffed, a frown on his face. Oh great. Sans waved a hand as he adjusted the book on his lap.

“Go ahead and send him to the Repair Ward, I’m sure they can dig through and see what caused him to mistake something for the specimen.”

Papyrus nodded and Blue rolled his opticals secretly as he hovered and was pushed away by a tiny robot.

And then quickly turned around at Sans’ sharp gasp.

...Red.

Red was kneeled down, his treads sticking out further as he picked at the plate of the flooring. He perked up, seeing everyone staring at him, then wheeled over (creakily, with flakes of rust showering the pristine floor). He held out his scraper and Sans blinked, slowly holding his hand out as Red shook it. “Rrrreeeed!”

Sans blinked as ‘Red’ released his hand, and he looked down. His once beautifully white hand was now caked in dirt and rust flakes, and he felt...warmth on it. Not like when you hold someone’s hand, or when you touch a hot plate. It felt like...like a warmth one couldn’t explain. A warmth that felt like if it spread, it could make you want to do enormously wonderful things.

Slowly he curled his hand shut, and cleared his throat. “And um, have Red go and...cleaned. Please.”

Papyrus’ opticals blinked, and he nodded as well. “YESSIR. PERHAPS A BATH IS NOW IN ORDER…?”

Blue didn’t hear the rest of it as he was trucked back out to the transport, almost pouting as Red hopped up inside, gleefully leaning on him with a few clicks and trills that he couldn’t decipher. As they wheeled out of the elevator, the large yellow robot that dangled from the ceiling wiggled her hand back and forth. She perked up, seeing them, and started to ‘wave’ energetically at the leaving robots.

Red happily waved back. To him, she looked like a scientist of old, her panels white like a lab coat, and spikes on her head like a dinosaur monster.

On her hydraulic arm, it read ALPHYS, and her ‘glasses’ glinted in the fake light.

He chirped something Blue couldn’t understand, but ALPHYS, a robot who was coded with every binary language known to man due to needing to interact with varying robot codes over the years, understood him perfectly.

‘Goodbye! Have a good day!’

‘G-Goodbye, new frie-friend!!’

She hoped he came back...he was the only one to wave at her in ever...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Debating actually putting Red through the wringer or keeping his rust until later on bc Blue is up to HERE with his rust and WILL clean that filthy bot even if it KILLS HIM
> 
> (what a bad choice of words considering the ending.)


	4. Breakout!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sent to Repair Ward, Red...doesn't like it...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the movie it doesn't show exactly how WALL-E's face gets cleaned so like just imagine Red with a puff puff on his face lmao

“Analyze.”

Sans tossed the bits of things into a hovering piece, staring blankly as the computer happily pulled it apart.

Something about sedimentary and rudimentary and…”Commonly referred to as Earth.”

He paused in his wheeling away using the chair (hey, he could be lazy sometimes!) and quickly came back, eye pips wide. “Earth?”

Their once home. The goal of all of this. This was what covered RED’s hand? That warm cozy feeling that echoed up to his joint, far different than the false heat or cold the ship provided? 

“...define Earth,” he mumbled, leaning back in his chair, a bottle of fresh (cold) water in his hand.

So many images flung into view. Goat monsters were taking a child for a walk, skeletons doing farm work, humans walking down pathways, and just...it was exciting. It was breath-taking. It was…

...it was…

Something. It was something. He felt an odd feeling, like he missed something, something he had never had before.

He let out a breath as the computer responded. “Earth, the surface of the world as distinct from the sky or sea.”

The. What? He leaned in, hands clasped in his lap, feeling like a child tinkering with his first bot. “What’s ‘sea’?” Wait, no. “Define ‘sea’.”

“Sea,” the computer echoed, giving geography lessons to a captain who didn’t even know the strict meaning of it, but he sat fascinated all the same.

Across the ship, a little bot was ruthlessly scrubbing against the ground, heedless of the chaos he was causing. Red waved from his spot on the transporter, his head twisting around to see where they were going. The Repair Ward was...crazy! He had never seen so many bots in one place before! That is, before coming onto the ship of course...excluding a couple hundred years ago, as well.

They were all in little...cages, kind of? With blue screens keeping them in. One was a tall robot with a vacuum arm attachment, and he seemed to reach out and suction onto people, laughing. His arm read ‘Cinnamon’ but it didn’t seem to be a designation. It seemed to be spray-painted on?

He didn’t have time to check though, as a few arms came down. He blinked, watching in shock as they held Blue in place, who looked bored with the whole thing. A red thing attached to his head and his body, and then he was shut off!

“Bluuue!” He warbled and tried to chase him when the arm lifted him away. Instead, another arm came down, trying to put on him! He dodged, and it suctioned onto another arm, and he wheeled away quickly on his treads.

He bumped into a pink bot, who tweeted at him then proceeded to lather him in powder and smear something on his face. “Just a trim, sweetface?” it chirped, showing a mirror at him.

He had…

...never...seen his face before.

In the mirror was a round skull-looking head. Over it laid white powder from the bot, and over his sharp teeth she had scribbled red markings on, like lips. He could see specks of rust slipping down from his arms and his chassis.

...did...Blue see this? Would Blue...care for his rust? His oldness? Perhaps the bot was right, perhaps he needed to be a little pretty! Perhaps-AH HE WAS BEING LIFTED AWAY!

He squalled and wiggled around as a hand lifted him, whining as his scrapers wiggled uselessly. He was dropped down in his own ‘jail’ with hard blue screens, and he peeked over the edge sadly. Oh no! Why was he here?? What was going on now?

He saw another skeleton bot near him with a paintbrush, just smearing the paint all around his little ‘jail’, grinning when it saw Red staring. The name INK was printed across his head in inkblots.

What…

The Cinnamon bot sucked up his cheek, cackling when Red sputtered, shaking his head with a whine. He had to use tiny windshield wipers to clear out his eyes as he looked around. Another set of robots were playing with a ball, and one large robot who looked like a wolf was ‘massaging’ another, until he lost control and started beating the other one.

And then the hands tied him down with something as he howled angrily.

He shuddered, looking over and perking up when he saw Blue through a set of doors. Oh! There he was!! He wanted to wave but stopped as the large claw set Blue down and the doors shut. He whined, leaning over the edge sadly as the vacuum-Cinnamon tried to ‘clean’ his head again.

Meanwhile, Blue was busy being reactivated and tested. This was so boring! And it was all Red’s fault, he just knew it...he sighed, stretching out his gun arm, covering one eye, then the next. The arm gripped his gun arm, pulling it free with a pop. He felt a bit lighter now, and off-balanced, but it wouldn’t be for long.

Another arm came down, slipping into a port. He started giggling at the weird feeling, his feet curling in as he squirmed a bit. Nearby, an umbrella bot was being pulled back down, making an ear-piercing shriek. He never did understand why those came loose so easily.

One arm came down and squirted water in his face, making him sputter before a wiper squeaked along, wiping him clean. He hummed happily, another hand slipping down as his head leaned back, and jammed itself into a port under his neck, doing another calibration.

To Red, he was pretty sure Blue was being tortured! He had to get free and save him!

His laser started up, firing from his only working laser eye and causing the blue screen to short out. He fell out with a yip, tumbling head over treads, peeking up as everyone stopped talking. They stared at him with wide optics, and he could feel his motherboard firing up sharply, making him feel anxious. No time for that! He whipped around. “Bluuuue!” he squealed, wheeling away and leaving the others in shock as he burst through the ‘door’.

Blue jumped as he did so, one arm gone, blinking curiously. “R-Red?” Red warbled nervously, then grabbed up Blue’s gun arm from the hand, nearly shaking in fear. Blue held up a hand slowly. “Red, calm down, it’s okay...give me back my arm. Please?”

He probably would have been able to convince Red to hand it over, were it not for the long arm jerking forward to grab at Red. He squalled, and shot...behind him.

They all watched as the shot flung from the gun, and then hit with precision on the control panel, shorting it out. The blue screens flickered away, leaving confused bots to stare. The hands whipped around, ‘staring’ at Red who sunk into his chassis with a whimper. Blue sucked in a breath, his eyes darting from the hands to Red. “R-Red!” 

And then the hands slumped, no energy to keep them going. Red sunk lower out of view as the bots slowly exited their ‘prisons’, then realizing they were free, cheered. A few headed off, but some of them set off chirps and whistles, a group of them turning to stare at Blue and Red. Blue was about to yell at them to back off, after all he still cared for Red even if he was messing up, but they stormed through the broken door, causing Red to squall and wheel away even as they lifted him like a hero.

Red squealed, clutching the gun arm tighter in fear as the taller Cinnamon bot started chirping off a song of some kind, the Ink one coloring the floor in an array of colors as they followed. Blue groaned, smacking his face. “Red!” he called out. What had happened to his normal, perhaps dull, life? Really.

He raced off after them. Those bots were bound to get in trouble, if only because they had Red and Red was showing that he had some...interesting luck.

Red’s play button was hit, and a simple tune started to play. ‘Strut down the street and have your pic~ture took!’ it chirped, and the bots started to imitate it in a cheer. Red was pretty sure his circuits were malfunctioning as he shook harder, trying to draw himself into his chassis as they passed through brightly lit halls filled with other bots who were pushed out of the way.

They stopped all of a sudden, Red stumbling from the top and landing on his treads.

“HALT.”

Several large white bots with a hand sign on them were in front.

“Oh gosh…” whispered one pink bot, and Red sunk further into his chassis. A little bot sprung out, looking a bit similar to the INK bot in a manner but with a small set of ERROR messages on the side and a scarf? It wheeled forward, pushing Red closer, and wheeled away with a squeal.

He did not want to be here right now.

He did not, not one bit, no way. Why can’t he go back home to his truck, to where things made sense?!

Blue caught up with them, groaning as he raced to the front, grabbing up his arm gun from Red’s slack grip. “Red! A-Are you okay, I mean, what are you all-”

The robot in front of them made a click noise.

“ROGUE ROBOTS.”

This message splayed over all monsters’ holograms. Several of them grumbled, but continued to walk, unheeding of the message. A few reset their holograms, thinking it was a virus or it was stuck.

The same image splashed across the white bot and Blue gasped, feeling a bit of heat on his cheeks. He wasn’t rogue! He was a good bot! He groaned, slapping his face. “Reeeed!” He whined and Red warbled curiously. He liked the photo of them!

And then the robots lit up with little lasers, pointing right at him.

Red squalled when Blue picked him up, quickly flying away from the turmoil. “Bluuuuue?” he called out. Blue was holding him! But not with their hands...but that was okay! He was holding him! ...it made him feel really small, but he wasn’t that much smaller than Blue! Right?

He’d have to measure.

He warbled curiously as they flew, his scrapers wiggling a bit as they dodged other robots and the broken ones, flinging themselves to hide in a window for a moment. The white security bots passed by and Blue pointed out the window towards a set of circular...things. “There. Look. See that?” he whispered, slowly withdrawing from where he had boxed Red in (who didn’t mind it in the slightest).

Red blinked, staring down at it and chirped. Blue sighed, then picked him up by his square box again. “...c’mon.”

In the elevator, their photo was on a screen. He quickly pointed it out with a grin. “Blue!”

Blue shot the screen.

Red whined, feeling that Blue was angry at him, and sunk into his chassis again, shivering. Blue sighed, slumping a bit. “I’m. Sorry, Red. I’m very...frustrated, okay?”

Red didn’t speak, and sometimes, Blue wondered if he even understood what he was saying. Older bots could, right?

...it wouldn’t matter. 

He was sending Red home.

None of this would matter, and things would return to normal, and in another twenty years they’d try again.

...idly...he hoped Red would survive until then, just so he’d have someone to visit on his run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't like how antagonistic Eve is through the thing with WALL-E, so all I can imagine is, secretly, she's very concerned about him but as she's never been able to like...show anything like that, she doesn't know how
> 
> Except Blue does so like
> 
> boo that
> 
> Red, however...doesn't...quite understand what he says. The languages ARE different, but someday, they'll understand each other UwU
> 
> Also  
> Blue: *pins Red and tries to explain*  
> Red: my motherboard is melting I am dead I am dying


	5. Plant-Boot!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red just wants to hold hands...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I try to watch the movie and keep to it but it's going slowly deviate a bit, especially at the end. Mostly since there's things Wall-e and Eve do that Red and Blue can't and vice versa
> 
> ....I love Wall-E UwU

Blue’s hand was...human. It had five fingers and was slick and curled. Each hinge just served to show how elegant the fingers were, and Red had seen how it turned into a gun. The hand he was staring at had a little layer of dust from their time on Earth.

Red looked at his own scrapers.

Three large, flat, but sharp pieces of metal. Two hinges to shovel and dump trash. Once a beautiful silver, now were grimy and disgustingly grey. Rust tinged the hinges, climbing up one in an interesting pattern. The other was harder to move nowadays, the screws had some black layer of gunk underneath them, and he just tended to ‘baby’ it, as the saying went.

Their hands, so different, so unique.

Would they fit together? Would they curl together, bring warmth to their motherboards? Would...Blue even want to hold his hand?

He paused, staring at his own scrapers curled together, feeling the fake idea of ‘pain’ from the one that couldn’t move, and he looked up, his eye lights flickering. “...Blue?” he whispered.

The lights around them started to blink on, and Blue left the terminal he was at to stand in front of the now functional orb ship they had seen earlier. He pointed inside. “Earth.”

Red stared at him.

Blue sighed softly, then pointed above them. “Earth. You’re...going back.” The screen above had the green and blue planet Red called home. He chirped, wheeling himself inside excitedly. He was sad they had to leave but he was happy Blue wanted to go home with him! He peeked out the window with wide red eye pips, then wheeled himself onto a chair, wiggling his treads. He patted the seat beside him with a grin.

Blue shook his head. “I have to stay, Red. This is my home, and I still have a duty to do.” The green light on his chest glowed. He still had to find that plant, although knowing by now, it was shuttled out into space. Still, it was his duty.

Red perked up, warbling nervously as he wheeled back out of the orb, wheeling around, and with a nod, he curled up into his square chassis. He wasn’t going to leave!

Blue sighed, slowly going over and picking the easily handled Red up. “You’ve got to understand,” he said, floating him back inside the orb ship. “You have to go. You’re not...meant for this place.” You aren’t built that way, he wanted to say. You’ll fall apart at a moment’s notice.

Instead, he just placed Red-square back down, floating out. He groaned as he heard the squeaky treads cranking the other towards the terminal, stopping again. “Red-!” There was a noise.

Someone was coming.

He quickly slapped the terminal to turn it all off, then hissed at Red to follow, pushing the square off to the side and powering down. Red shook nervously in place until Blue gently nudged him, and he hunkered down.

A small bot came through, one Blue didn’t recognize. It sped through turning on the terminal, entering the orb ship. And then...it put down the plant-boot.

Blue peeked around, sucking in a fake breath. He ducked back around, shutting down as the small robot wheeled away to the terminal. He sighed, opening his eye pips...and double-taking when he didn’t see Red. He quickly looked around into the orb ship.

There he was, lifting the plant-boot with a grin. “Blue!”

“Re-!” The door slammed shut, and it launched out, leaving Blue worried sick...until the other bot left, leaving him to launch out of a tube into space. He hadn’t done this before, well...he’d walked on the ship once before, but that was so long ago!

“Come on come on come on,” he chanted, pushing himself hard to try and catch up with the orb. Who knows where the other bot had sent it to! Not Earth...and Red wouldn’t know what to do if he hit a planet with no trash! He had to save him! He had t-

_Boom_

No.

No…

No.

The ship exploded with a spray of white and he wheeled back from the aftershock, staring ahead. “...R-Red…?” he asked, but nothing answered.

No.

He...he might not have appreciated how the other couldn’t understand him, but he didn’t want him to permanently shut down! ...and now...here he was. In space. No plant. No Red.

He took in a fake shaky breath, and had he not been a robot, perhaps he might have even teared up.

The worst thing about it...he had no one to tell. No one to apologize to.

‘I’m sorry, but your friend/brother/coworker is gone’

No one was left for Red. And somehow, that hurt even more.

...he wasn’t sure why he started forward again, pushing his boots to try and blast forward. Nothing would be there. He was certain of it. He was.

Until, well, Red sped by using a fire extinguisher of all things to fly past him. “Blluuuueeee!” He squealed and Blue twirled around with a gasp.

“Red?! Red!” He yelled back, racing after him with a laugh. They met in the middle, bumping together, and Red grizzled as he sprayed a laughing Blue with the foam. He showed Blue how he could twirl around with the fire extinguisher, laughing that odd, rusted laugh. Blue floated closer but Red help a hand with a whistle. He opened his chassis, revealing the plant-boot that Blue hadn’t even thought about.

Blue gasped, squealing as he pulled it into his own container, and wrapped Red in a hug, spinning them. “You saved it! And you! You’re okay and it’s okay and we’re okay!”

Red’s face burned with a heat as his old fans started to kick into gear, and he leaned against Blue in the hug, sighing happily at the warmth of a nice, cozy hug from someone else.

And then Blue lifted his head.

And kissed Red’s forehead.

Red twitched, his energy battery beeping rapidly due to the sudden pulse of energy, and he floated in place with a stuttering gasp.

Blue laughed, shaking his head with a smile. “...c’mon. Let’s go, okay?”

Red warbled, holding up the fire extinguisher, letting it loose as he started to fly around again and Blue laughed. He couldn’t fault Red for finding it fun. He was a land robot, and this would most likely be the only way he could ever have the chance to do it.

...he followed, racing around Red as they danced in and out, Red’s little music player blasting some gentle song that made his circuits whir in pleasure.

Was this what fun was? Beyond the duties and the day in and day out tasks, beyond only being operable when they needed to touch down on Earth? Beyond just being useful, and being...happy?

He could only imagine it was, and to him-and Red-that’s what mattered most.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blue, five seconds ago: oh Red...
> 
> Blue, now: If anything happens to Red I would kill everyone in this ship and myself
> 
> XD


	6. A Shocking Twist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to deliver a plant to a certain captain!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sans is like way too cute sometimes  
> Papyrus is.....*hm*

Around they went, zooming around the ship. Within one window, a goat monster peeked out, gasping. Her hologram wasn’t on, in fact, it was tucked into her dress pocket, her hands on the window. “Oh!” she exclaimed, one foot stepping back in shock. “That’s-!” she stammered, her hands flailing lightly as she bumped into another goat monster. She slapped his shoulder, pointing quickly. “Look look!”

“Huh?” He looked up, gasping as his own hologram flickered out of view, taking a step to the window. “I know him, yes, that’s...RED, yes?”

“Yes, that’s it!” she cheered, and they both waved frantically at the flying robots, cheering them on as they passed by. She laughed, and he sighed, their hands brushing one another. They gasped, jerking a bit, staring at one another.

“...hello.”

“...hello,” she echoed, a soft smile on her face. “...did...you know we had a pool?”

“A what now?”

Her laughter echoed as she dragged him down the hall, away from the other distracted monsters. Around them, the ship started to close down. The moon appeared on the night sky, with fake stars dotting the large viewscreen. 

In the Captain’s office, Sans was busy munching popcorn, watching a funny video when Papyrus popped into view. “Paps! Lookit!” He pointed, grinning. “This guy’s a ‘comedian’, and people laugh when he says things and-”

“CAPTAIN, IT’S TIME TO SLEEP,” Paps interrupted, making Sans groan and lean back in the chair with a sigh. 

“Fiiiiine,” he mumbled, and the hologram disappeared. Sans paused as he had started to get up, quickly grabbing another handful of popcorn...then pressed the play key again, nearly bouncing on his heels as the comedian started up his schtick.

“And as we’re dancing, and we’re dancing hoo boy, as we’re dancing the night away, three sheets to the wind, I lean in close, and I says, I says…’man...ain’t no one gonna take you home tonight? I would, I would’. You know what she says back?”

“Nooo,” Sans whispered, failing to see the two bodies flying through the empty night sky outside. “What she say?”

“She says, ‘you dummy, we’re married! You better take me home!’” The laugh track played, leading Sans into a chuckle. Maybe one more show…

He wondered, faintly, what dancing was like with another person…

On the outside, Red’s fire extinguisher emptied, and he whined as it started to float away from him. Noooo, he could’ve put that with his collectibles! Ah well...Blue caught him, swinging them both in a circle and Red trilled. “Blue!”

“HOME,” Blue responded, and back into the ship they flew, Red cuddled up happily with where he was.

Inside it was dark. So dark. But yet, not darker than what home had been like. It was like...a radiant darkness, as if someone had tried to imitate it, but failed. Blue put him down behind some towels on a rack, peeking through the towels to gauge how far off they were from their goal.

Red stared at Blue’s hand again. Sleek, fingers, elegant...and still so far different from him. And yet...and yet, Blue had tried to come after him, to see if he was okay. So maybe...maybe…

Blue jerked, whipping around as Red’s signature song started up, and Red happily held up both of his scrapers cupped together. “Bluuuue!”

“Red, no, shhh!” Blue frantically tapped at his console, pausing the song and pushing the hands away. “Red, you have to be quiet,” he whispered. Red blinked, and Blue turned, grabbing a stack of towels and plopping them on Red’s head, making him sputter. “Stay here. I have to go and finish this, okay?”

Red blinked, staring at him. Blue hoped he understood as he pointed at the green light on his chest. After seeing the explosion, and their...fun in space...he couldn’t bear to have Red come along and both of them sent to the ward again. Mostly because he was pretty sure a scrubbing would make him fall apart.

Red seemed to pout as Blue rushed away, darting up a chute towards the Captain’s quarters.

~~

Sleepily, Sans held the little book that one of his ancestors had brought onto the ship. The pages were crackling, and the cover was torn...but inside, they had wrote about an exciting adventure they had taken. How the fields were grassy and overrun, how the sun-baked their bones and the wind cooled them down. How every person they met along the way waved at them, happy to see them.

Man...that...was so cool. Maybe one day-

Blue burst through the disposal unit, and Sans sputtered, nearly dropping the book. “What-”

He showed him.

The plant.

The evidence they needed to let them know things were better back home, that they could take courage and step foot upon the ground once more.

“H-How did you find it?!” He hopped off the chair, his feet stinging as he hit the ground a little too hard, holding his hands up as the other let the holding force let it go into his hands. It was in a boot, an old type from years gone. The laces were cracked and stringy, the tongue of it missing, the heel broke and the boot itself was caked in dust and grime.

And in the middle of all that devastation, poetic in a way, a little leafy vine was sprouting upwards. It sprung under his fingers, tilting away, curling around a pinky as he rubbed against it. It was...soft...warm...and strangely, fragile-feeling. He sucked in a breath, eye pips flicking to the robot. “What’s it like there? Is it...how is it?”

“U-UH,” Blue started, before being interrupted as Sans zoomed off to a small console.

“Wait wait, wait, here!”

He came back with a joystick thing, vibrating in place as Blue adjusted it onto his head, reflecting a screen of all he had seen during his time on Earth. Sans started to frown, shaking his head. “...wait...that’s not right. Earth has...blue skies and…” he looked from what Blue was seeing, the skyscrapers of boxed up trash, to the ones the computer had shown him of happy monsters and humans strolling through bright green grass and hills.

Sans frowned down at the plant in thought. “That...that doesn’t make sense. Is it…”

Blue watched on, how he met Red, how they went to the truck, and then...the little show came on. Sans made a noise, bobbing his head along. “I know that song.” He pointed at it, frowning. “They’re...dancing, together, aren’t they? Yeah.”

Yeah...Blue nodded along as Sans stared at the plant, frowning. “It’s rough, sure...but we could do it. You did it, huh?” He gently rocked the boot, and then one little curled leaf slipped away, falling like their hopes might do. “Shit shit shit!” He hurried away, leaving Blue staring at the hologram.

In it, a part of the movie he didn’t even recall seeing popped up, where a human reached out and laced their hand with another, both of them walking down a paved road with smiles on their faces.

...that...that’s what Red was doing earlier? He stared down at his hands in confusion, and then slowly, he laced the fake fingers together. For a moment, it felt weird. It felt off. It felt...somehow comforting?

He wiggled two fingers. One hand was coated in a light layer of dust, the other slick and clean as usual.

As. Usual.

…

And then he heard Red’s voice, and saw all he did for him while he was on lockdown.

Red’s bright smile, despite not knowing what was going on, as he tugged Blue around to ‘help’. His worried warbles in a language older than Blue as he brushed away dirt from Blue’s capsulated form. It was funny and sweet and...aw man...he messed up earlier. He could’ve taken a second to like, listen to Red, right? Yeah...he sighed, shaking his head. “Oh Red…”

Their mission was done. He could get some parts for Red, maybe upgrades even? Make Red feel like a whole new bot! Yeah! That would totally make up for Blue being so dismissive towards him!

Meanwhile Sans filled the boot up with water from a tap, not caring how it dripped over the slick floor, chuckling. “There it is, yeah? The computer showed people doing that. I’m sure all ya need is some good drink. That’s like, food for you, right?” He sighed, smiling softly. “We’re going back, huh?”

He cleared his throat, standing up straighter before tapping the button on his floating chair nearby. “Paps!”

“YES?” The sudden hologram always made him jump, even if he should’ve been used to it by now.

“Blue found the plant again, let’s get this train rolling!”

“NOT NECESSARY,” Papyrus smiled, a hand up as a large metal hand came down. “GIVE IT TO ME, I CAN TAKE CARE OF IT.”

Sans groaned, nearly stomping his foot. “Papyruuuus, I never get to do anything. None of us do! I should do it, show everyone we’re-”

“CAPTAIN,” Papyrus interrupted, his form now frowning a little. “PLEASE, I INSIST YOU NOT TROUBLE YOURSELF WITH THE PLANT…”

Sans rolled his eyes, scoffing. “It ain’t trouble, not since we’re going home for it!”

“WE CANNOT GO HOME.”

Sans stopped, and even Blue stared with wide eye lights as the captain open and closed his mouth, the plant clutched to his chest. “...what? What do you mean?”

A large ribbon of CLASSIFIED appeared around the hologram, disappearing after a second. “PLEASE GIVE ME THE PLANT, SANS.”

“What, no!” He backed away from the metal arm, scowling. “Tell me why it’s classified!” The hand darted at him as the hologram even leaned in, and in a comical maneuver Sans was leaning back, his back nearly aching as he played keep-away from both Pap and the ship’s arm. He grunted. “Tell me!”

“I CANNOT, PLEASE GIVE ME THE PLANT,” he repeated, no longer in that happy chirpy voice but that boring auto voice.

“I am the Captain! It’s an order!”

Papyrus stopped, as did the arm. “...AS YOU WISH.”

~~

_”Operation Cleanup is a failure. The RED units have done all they can, but there’s no way they’re going to be able to fix the Earth and clean it within the timeline we had in mind. Not to mention the radiation and the oxygen decreases we’re experiencing._

_“We’ll be leaving them behind just in case they can, in the future, at least help make Earth appear clean. However, Oxygen is a finite element, and we’ve run our course of it._

_“Autopilots, enact code A113. No one goes home. No one leaves. Exception for the BLUE units, nothing goes back down until we give the all-clear._

_“We’ll judge things later, but for now, we’re all leaving. Keep things running, do what you can._

_“Let’s just hope we never experience this again.”_

~~

When Sans was very little, his father told Papyrus, as a command, not to let him wander the ship. One day, he had attempted to approach the door of the nursery. He wasn’t sure how old he was, but he was old enough to walk, but not speak well.

Papyrus, of course, appeared, and attempted to dissuade him from opening the door. He giggled, and stuck his hand up to grasp the knob, heedless of this funny AI’s words.

That was the first time Papyrus truly startled him. Sirens went off, and Papyrus’ AI form seemed to glitch into something with the word ‘warning’ across his body. “YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED,” he said as the door latched tightly, preventing Sans from leaving. “PLEASE BE ASSURED YOUR FATHER IS COMING.”

He had been so scared of all the noises, he’d cried. But as he got older, he’d learned something: Papyrus, while truly caring for all the residents on the ship, was still a robot. Still an AI. 

And he still had to follow commands.

There was no reasoning with him. There never had been. You just had to change his command, but there was no appealing to an emotional side, no matter what.

(Something Sans had always felt unfair, because Papyrus seemed so kind and helpful otherwise.)

“Paps,” he said, drawing himself up despite sleep dragging at his senses, wanting him to just lay down and relax. “I am the Captain. My word is law. And I say that we return. The positives outweigh any assumable negatives.”

Papyrus blinked.

And then a tiny alarm went off, startling both him and Blue, who had snapped out of his staring to approach. A tiny robot-the one Blue had seen earlier!-appeared, and zipped across the floor. Sans and Blue stared at it, and then it yanked the plant-boot from his hand.

“Hey-!” 

Blue reached out to grab it, but the robot hissed loudly. Sans flinched back, then frowned. “This is mutiny, you hear me? You can’t do this! Blue, arrest him!”

Blue popped out the gun with ease, pointing it at the little robot holding the plant-boot. “GIVE IT HERE AND PERHAPS YOUR STAY WILL BE LENIENT.”

The robot seemed to weigh its choices, and made the correct one as it started to hover closer. Sans sighed, dragging a hand down his face. “Finally. Okay, so go on down to wherever it’s at and put it in place.”

And then the bot threw it towards the trash receptacle.

“No!” Sans shouted, arms outstretched as if he could stop it. Blue held his gun on the little bot, watching with an awe-struck expression. Was this it, then? To come all this way, only for it to be shuttered out into space in a wreck of a garbage square?

...wait...there was a noise. A clambering noise from the trash receptacle. They all watched in confusion as the plant-boot slowly rose, peeking over the edge...and then Red’s head popped up. “Blue!”

“Red?!” Blue and Sans shouted as he started to scramble out, hanging onto the edge of the tubing as the plant-boot landed on his chassis.

“Huh? Ohhh,” he warbled curiously, red eye pips blinking as he stared down.

“Red!” Sans rushed forward, grunting when a large metal claw gripped him tightly, forcing him to remain. Blue hovered forward, yelping when the little bot caught him in a forcefield, chirping angrily at the little bot to let him free. 

A large metal hand came down, attempting to grab it and Red warbled nervously, holding tightly onto the boot as the AI hologram flickered into view. “COME NOW, GIVE THE PLANT, THAT IS AN ORDER.”

Red chirped angrily back, ducking away from the metal hand, his tread slipping inside the tube. After a few ducks, he tossed the plant into his chassis, growling and backing away when the hand came close. Papyrus sighed. “I DIDN’T WANT TO HAVE TO DO THIS, YOU’RE BEING VERY CROSS WITH ME.”

A long arm stretched down all of a sudden, and Red blinked. It slammed forward into his console, making Red yip then warble as an electric shock traveled through, his entire form trembling and slipping against the slick tube.

Sans groaned, shaking his head but Blue shouted out. For any other bot, an electric shock would have put them in sleep mode or shut down. But Red wasn’t like them, he was older, made of rusted and worn-out parts that may or may not be held together with a hope and a prayer.

Red’s eye pips flickered greatly, then he started to sway when the arm pulled back. Paps nodded. “THERE, NOW-” Red let out a groan, and he tilted back, slipping down the tube with barely a shout. “...OH, DEAR…WELL, THAT DOES TAKE CARE OF THE PLANT,” he muttered as the tiny bot pushed Blue forward as he struggled.

Sans frowned. “Papyrus, what are you doing?!”

“NOT TO WORRY, CAPTAIN, I WILL INFORM THE BOTS DOWN THERE TO KEEP AN EYE ON THEM.” He flicked the reset button still attached to Blue, and he shut down with ease. “THEY JUST HAVE TO GO AWAY FOR NOW. WE’RE IN LOCKDOWN MODE.”

Blue was let go down into the tube, and all the windows started to shutter as Sans started to argue against it, still struggling in the large metal hand.

After all…

Papyrus still had to follow protocol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I was in the Wall-E fandom for a time, there was a fic where someone wanted to explore the aftereffects of what Auto did. Auto, of course, is a robot, and a robot follows their directive.
> 
> Papyrus is following his directive, which is keep everyone onboard, and keep the Captain happy.  
> but this is the future where we can go 'pls allow this beautiful AI to have emotions thx' lmao  
> but for now. he's just a robot boi doing what he does.
> 
> Kinda feel bad just making him a hologram, might give him a body later. it'd be funny.


	7. Devastation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red and Blue hurry to put the plant in the tube thing!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That one part in Wall-E
> 
> that one part gets me
> 
> like Disney really said 'oh let's just...murder'
> 
> Edit: this chapter was 2888 words according to GDocs. Somehow, that's funny to me

F-Fall-Falliiiiiiiing

Fall

Faaaaall

Zzrt

Zzzrrrt

01001001 00100111 01101101 00100000 01100110 01100001 01101100 01101100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00101100 00100000 01001001 00100111 01101101 00100000 01100110 01100001 01101100 01101100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00101100 00100000 01110000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100100 01101111 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01110111 01100001 01101110 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01100100 01101001 01100101 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100100 01101111 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01110111 01100001 01101110 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101111 00101101 

_crunch, crunch, clink_

"B-Bluuuue…B-Bluuuue…..Bl-"

_zzrt_

Quiet.

~~~~~

When Blue is awoken, it’s to turmoil and chaos.

He’s pretty sure the tip of his gun arm is bent, and some kind of sharp metal is underneath the hinge of his arm but he doesn’t care, he _doesn’t_. Because Red’s out there, and he’s shocked and in shut down mode more likely than not, and they’re not going to be able to defend themselves from…

From…

He hears a noise and realizes he’s in a wasteland of disgusting trash. He wonders if this is the trash Red takes care of all the time on Earth, but it’s quickly brushed away as he tries to lift himself away but can’t. A long table with disgustingly old gum solidified underneath it is trapping him in.

And then lights appeared.

He looks up.

BOSS.

Blank-Outer Tale-Scrubbing Sanitizer.

The ‘big brother’ to Red, only in appearance. Red was older than any of these units could ever hope to be.

They were large, enough that Red might have appeared as a little toy to them. They had a boxy chassis and large treads, and their scrapers were jagged from how long they had spent down here. Red eye lights provided ample spotlight to grab and chuck trash, while their teeth were jagged like Red’s.

But...they didn’t hold the warmth he did...or, maybe they did, and Blue just had never realized it.

But at this moment, it didn’t matter. He tried to make a noise but his voice glitched as suddenly two huge scrapers slammed around him, dragging him-and the trash-into the chassis of the large Boss bot. Was this what the trash felt? How...odd.

He was squashed even more under the table and he yelped, his gun arm now caught under as well and he tried to yank himself free. The thing from the repair ward had been ripped off, thankfully, so he didn’t have to worry about that anymore.

He shrieked as the cube was picked up, and he could feel a dent in his metal skull as he bounced around.

And then he...heard it.

“...-ue?”

He sucked in a fake breath, quickly looking around and choking. “RED!”

Red was halfway into a cube as well, so he couldn’t judge how bad off he was, but he could see the dim eye lights, a snapped scraper, his console was blinking a terrifying red light that Blue didn’t know what it meant.

Red...cheerily waved at him, with a smile missing two of his sharp teeth.

“H-HANG ON!” Blue shouted, yanking on his arms with a hiss. “I’LL GET US OUT OF THIS!”

Red’s head bobbed forward, but Blue wasn’t sure if he heard or just was happy to see him.

The gates to the airlock shuttered open, and they were tossed in head over treads. Blue struggled even more, once they were in space...it really wouldn’t be so bad to be fair, but he’d lose track of Red if that happened, and he refused to let the little robot be any more alone than need be.

The only way to get out was to fire his gun, which he did, scattering pieces of disgusting trash around the ‘clean’ white floor of the airlock. He gasped, flying over to Red quickly. “RED! OH, RED…” He cupped Red’s face, and Red smiled at him goofily.

One socket drooped, and it was clear it was no longer operable. The hinge on his chassis was held in place by a broken spring but it was obviously loose as well. A light kept flickering on his console, and he was missing a scraper for sure.

“I’VE GOT YOU, OKAY? OKAY?” He mumbled as Red chirped and beeped words at him he couldn’t understand, wiggling his hands in around Red’s chassis to try and wrench him from the trash as the gates lurched and started to shutter. “NO NO NO,” he muttered, his head flicking back and forth as he tried to pull Red free.

Something stopped the gates from closing all the way, and at the last moment, he wrenched Red-poor, broken Red-free just as the trash was jettisoned out. He groaned, trying to keep them from rushing out as well, and he spied...a little bot holding the doors open?

The bot had a cleaning brush for his arms, which reminded him of what he was. A little BB! What was he doing down here?! Right now he didn’t care, as he tried to fight against the wind current, Red dangling from one arm, reaching out as best he can. BB warbled, holding up the brush just as Blue grabbed it. He wasn’t sure how long they could hold this up…

Until, suddenly, the doors behind them slammed shut. Blue made an ‘oof’ noise as they hit the ground, and BB blinked, his little light blinking above his head.

“WHOA.”

~~

“I AM SORRY,” the Boss bot said, his large red eye lights peering down on them like a macabre sunshine. “HE IS AN ELDER BOT, WE HAVE NO REPAIR UNITS FOR HIS KIND.” His voicebox was thunderous almost, a low rumble filled with an echo under it. The other Boss bot had taken back to his duties for now.

“I KNOW,” Blue whispered, gently lifting Red’s head from where it had slumped down, sighing. “HE MIGHT HAVE...SOME PARTS BACK ON EARTH, BUT WE HAVE TO GET THERE FIRST.” He crooned at Red, who smiled toothily at him-and seeing the missing pieces made him flinch-as Blue opened the console on his chassis gently. Meanwhile, the small BB bot had taken to scrubbing fiercely at Red’s hand, but Blue ignored him from now. He winced, pulling out a chip with a hole shot into it. “HE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN YOU WEREN’T BUILT TO STAND THAT.” He shook his head, gently slotting it back in place as he stood up. “HERE, WATCH HIM JUST FOR A SECOND. I’D LIKE TO TRY AND FIND ANYTHING TO HELP HIM.”

“OF COURSE.”

BB nodded as well as Blue zoomed away, scanning the trash piles.

BB chittered away as he scrubbed at what he could without forcing Red to move or get hurt any more than he already was. He nodded, satisfied for now, and hunkered down, staring ahead. He jumped when a sharp scraper poked his side, staring at Red’s dopey face. “Reeeed.”

“...BB.” He said, plunking the brush into Red’s...two-scraper hand, scrubbing it quickly. He nodded again, turning back.

Red blinked slowly, as if trying to fish through the mud for his thoughts. “...BB?”

“BB.”

Red let out an airy giggle, his head tilting back as he stared up at Boss. “BB.”

Blue zipped back over with a stash of chips, digging through them to compare them to the one Red held. He shook his head at each one, tossing it to the side before sighing. “...WE HAVE TO GO. TO EARTH.”

“Eeeaaarth,” Red warbled, and his broken chassis swung open, showing the plant-boot. Blue gave him a shaky smile, leaning in and pressing their foreheads together, leaving Red to giggle almost drunkenly.

“YEAH. THEN YOU’LL BE OKAY. BETTER THAN OKAY, OKAY?”

Before he could answer, Blue picked him up almost bridal style, that was the easiest way right now for him to carry Red all the way they had to go. Red chirped, tilting his head back. “BB!”

“RED!” BB chirped back, and wheeled over, hopping up onto a small little hook that Red popped out of his back, ready to go with them. Blue chuckled, unsheathing his gun once more.

“YOU MAKE SO MANY FRIENDS!”

Red chirped happily, beeping out a shaky tune as Blue shot out the hole in the ceiling, zipping up and pausing when they reached Boss’ head. “THANK YOU.”

“OF COURSE,” Boss nodded, his permanent frown twisting into a smile. “GOOD LUCK, LITTLE BIG BROTHER.”

Red crooned at him, and whatever it was seemed to make Boss happy as Blue zoomed them away, leaving the dark trash bay to its devices.

~~

Ink happily chortled as he doodled fluorescent pink paint all over the ground of the storage closet. It needed flowers and rainbows and-

Then a security bot opened the door, and he groaned, his paint arm flopping to the side. “WRONG.”

He pouted as he was lifted in the air of the force field. “Can’t I paint just a little???”

“WRONG.”

Ink debated doing that middle finger thing he’d seen one monster or another do, but it didn’t seem worth it. As they wheeled away from the storage closet, a trash receptacle’s lid started to rumble.

Out came one of the BLUE units...and...Red! That fun little bot who freed them all! Ink trilled happily as Blue kicked the security bot into a room, locking it up and freeing Ink. Ink chortled away as they started to race down the hall, a BB bot keeping pace with them.

With his ink brush, he squeaked along the tune that had become their ‘anthem’. Red tilted his head around, blinking the one good eye light he had, before pressing play on his console, sighing happily as the hall filled with song.

Ahead, that cleaning vacuum from earlier-Cinnamon-was busy brushing it up and down on a clean wall. He saw them buzz by. “Hmmm...it’s not like I”m doing much,” he mumbled and started racing after them as well, humming along.

Several other bots started to join them, the one who had painted Red’s face, and a little bitty bot as well that raced around Ink’s legs, chirping happily.

Red hummed happily. It had been so long since he’d been around happy bots. The last time were other Red units, and they had found an operable light that glowed in the shape of a tiny butterfly. Unfortunately, with time and age, his memory unit had gotten full, and it had started to empty what it considered as useless memories. He wasn’t sure how they went from friends to just him, but he could tell that it was something big that happened.

He hoped his new friends would stay. He liked them.

The wolf monster who did percussion on the other bot was flexing his muscles at others, roaring when they passed by and sprinting after them. He wanted to be included too!!!

In the Captain’s room, Sans was busy kicking in the door, hissing as he scraped at it with his hands. “Papyrus! Let me out right this second!”

Nothing.

If only his father knew what was happening, but he was pretty sure, this late in the day, he was sound asleep. He groaned, plunking his head against the metal door. What would his dad do? He’d do something heroic, right? Right?

On a screen, it blared ‘CAUTION: ROGUE ROBOTS’.

“Huh?”

He turned, seeing the two robots he didn’t expect. “Blue? And...Red, the plant! The plant!” he whispered, eye sockets furrowing. He unbuttoned his captain’s coat, ripping it off and leaving him in a simple tank top that Papyrus had said was ‘unprofessional’, and quickly climbed under a table. “We can do this then...we can.”

Blue stumbled to a halt, as did their entourage of robots, as a large screen came on, showing Sans under the desk with large wires. “Blue? Red, you can see me? Look, bring the plant to this deck.” He opened the book, tapping it to show them. “The one with the scenic beachfront. Hurry, Papyrus is gonna-”

“HALT.”

The screen flashed, turning off, and Blue squawked, shooting one of many security bots. It fell over, and another took its place. “HALT.”

Blue growled and tried to shoot but it caught his gun arm in the forcefield.

“Oh my, just a trim?” the beauty bot smashed forward, slapping the security bot with a poof poof. BB tried to roll over and ‘clean’ it, but one of them with electric paddles shouted ‘CLEAR’ and shocked the security bot into shut down.

Red blinked tiredly, looking over at the angry wolf monster. He smiled, then sliced the bonds holding the other with his tiny laser. He hoped his new friend was happy!

And oh how he was as he jumped into the fray, happily ‘massaging’ the security bots into oblivion and back. Blue winced back, nervously laughing as he looked over at Red. “THAT’S...SOMETHING.”

Red chirped, grinning. “Bluuue!”

~~

There were a few sensors in the Captain’s room that had been installed when the Outer Tale had been first built. Some were meant to measure oxygen levels in case of a breach, others for vitals, etc.

So when Sans’ vitals drooped, Papyrus became horribly concerned.

His AI form appeared in the darkened room, slowly looking around. “SANS? ARE YOU INJURED? I SAW THAT YOUR STRESS LEVELS HAD INCREASED-”

“Gee I wonder why.”

Papyrus twirled around quickly.

Sans stood with his Captain’s coat wrapped around his arm, sharp knife in hand, a small layer of dust on the floor from where it was obvious he had cut himself to garner Papyrus’ attention. “CAPTAIN! THAT’S A HORRIBLE THING TO DO TO YOURSELF, YOU DON’T HAVE THAT GOOD OF HEALTH!”

Sans scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Oh come off it, do you care? Really actually care? Huh?”

“OF COURSE I-”

“Or is it all a command?” Sans bit back, taking a step forward. All he’d done was nick his arm but Papyrus was right, his arm was already pulsing in pain. He’d never been one for roughhousing, and he had been a sickly child at times. Not his better plan, for sure. All the same, he hit something in the ship’s mainframe to make the AI fidget.

“N-WELL-NO! I MEAN…”

“Papyrus,” Sans took another step forward, his face softening a bit with a frown. “I know you want to keep us safe. But being safe in the face of what could be isn’t what we’re meant to do.”

“I-BUT-I-” Papyrus fidgeted more, probably stuck in a circle of arguments.

That’s what he was hoping for, even if it meant creating an awkward situation for the two of them in the future. It would give the other robots time to make it to the deck.

He hoped…

(Because, while Papyrus had been distracted, Sans had snuck his hand behind his back, and slipped a hand over the button to activate the very thing that would take them home.)

~~

There were so many monsters on the ‘beach’ now. It no longer appeared as night or even as day, but a white ceiling with everyone in special helmets in case of depressurization. But Blue didn’t care about that. He zoomed forward, looking out for-

Red made a noise, pointing at a large green symbol above a small(?) tube. “Plaaaant?”

“YOU GOT IT!” He chirped, zooming forward when the large white ceiling flickered onto a video of the Captain and the AI arguing. 

They were spotted, despite Sans’ attempts at gaining Papyrus’ attention, and the ship started to tilt, causing Blue to smack into the tube and Red yipped, dropping the plant. Blue gasped, watching with wide eye pips. For a moment he bobbed back and forth before making the (horrific) choice to let Red settle near the tube. He put up a hand. “STAY. I’LL BE BACK, YOU REST.”

Red chirped at him happily, and Blue couldn’t help a small smile before he zoomed away, Red hugged up close to the tube.

Unfortunately, the tilting led everyone to start sliding, their various holograms shutting down as they tried to grip onto things or fell to the ground. He spied the plant, but when he tried to get near, a large bull monster swept it away with his arm as he tried to grip the slick floor. Blue groaned, dashing away again.

In the crowd of monsters, he darted around, looking between them and bopping up and away when several more skidded down into the crowd. “Look out!” cried out a goat monster-wait...did..he know her?-and he turned around fast, sucking in a fake breath.

Two large transports fell off the second floor, shattering into dropped hologram devices, chairs, and paneling. He zoomed forward, planting his hands in the middle with a long groan, his arms shaking with exertion as his mechanics squealed under the heaviness.

In the Captain’s room, Sans managed to be picked up again by the huge metal claw (darn his short stature!), and he yelled at the AI as said AI flicked the switch again. “THESE ARE MY ORDERS, CAPTAIN, I CANNOT GO AGAINST THEM.”

Tiredly, Red looked up as the tube started to shake. Curiously he held a hand up-

And the tube yanked down, having lost the air compression over the years due to never moving, and with a solid crunch, all anyone saw was a small, rusty rectangle sparking harshly, one lone arm twitching.

“RED!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UwU
> 
> In exchange for such a sad chapter, you will get...happy soon. Promises~
> 
> And yes I'm watching the movie play-by-play
> 
> Mostly bc this is all delicious fodder to get to the REAL meat of things
> 
> *Red and Blue's simple little life in the truck living their best UwU*
> 
> Binary for those who'd like to know:
> 
> I'm falling, I'm falling, please I don't want to die I don't want to-


	8. Rebuilding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red is...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the best, is what he is UwU

One time, Blue had seen another robot get really, badly hurt.

It was years ago, when he’d been zipping around, and one of the airlocks had malfunctioned. The repair bot there was working hard, but a slight tilt and the airlock decided to work...except with the bot halfway through the opening.

Blue watched as the robot flickered his eyes, looking surprised for a moment as oil started to drip down the airlock’s edges, flailing a bit before the lights that made up his eyes flickered off, and he shut down.

The body was...taken care of, but Blue knew the CPU and motherboard had been uploaded into another body and they were back at it again.

...except Red couldn’t do that.

At least, he didn’t think Red could do that.

His motherboard was being held tightly with a wish and a prayer as it was, he didn’t want to envision what a transportation of memories and integral parts would cause to the poor robot.

Dimly, he recognized the plant being tossed to him, and him pushing it into the tube, causing it to shutter up slowly. But mostly, he concentrated on Red.

His eye lights were out. One part of his head was split open, oil dribbling down the side of it. More teeth were missing, and his right arm was no longer attached to his chassis. His treads were ruined beyond belief, the threads holding them together snapping under the pressure of the tube.

All in all, he made for a horrific image.

But oh, how Blue still cared for him.

He pulled the mangled body up slowly, hovering down onto the ground and laying Red into his lap, holding his good hand gently. “IT’S OKAY,” he mumbled, as the ship started to countdown to them speeding off to Earth, Papyrus now locked up into his systems because of this. “I-I’LL FIND IT ALL. I’LL REPAIR YOU, A-AND WE CAN EXPLORE EARTH TOGETHER…”

They could live in the truck. Blue could fix it so it could run, and they could go on adventures together, sleeping inside the little rigs meant for REDs together.

He had to keep that thought. He had to, because Red was going to be okay.

Red was going to be okay.

Red was going to b-

_bing_

“Welcome, citizens,” the chirpy voice echoed over the megaphones still tied to splintered poles as the ship settled into its once home. “We hope your travels were prosperous, and-and-and-and,” the recording, having never been in use, had started to degrade the moment it began, one megaphone sparking and falling after burning away the ropes tying it to its home.

The clatter of the aluminum horn was disregarded as the Outer Tale’s bridge slowly started to open, a ramp floating downwards to clasp onto a rusted bridge part that shuddered under the strain.

It was calm and quiet for a moment, just a moment, before a white shape zipped out of the ship, heedless of the ones slowly stepping free of the ship in confusion and wonder.

Red’s truck _had_ to be nearby. It just had to be, but everything was the same color and looked confusing. Brown upon brown upon shades of grey...but there, there was a lump that was different amongst the garbage that Red tended to over the years consistently and without fail.

Blue pressed on, the lump of metal in his arms crackling sadly along the way.

The truck was easy to blast the door off of-he’d have to apologize for that one-and he zoomed in, gently laying the bundle of metal onto the ground. He had to work fast if he was going to save any remnants of Red…

Red had saved up parts from the other REDs, either having broken down over the years in not so friendly places, or just knowing somehow that he would need them.

Blue attacked the swinging homes meant for RED but now contained a surplus of randomized objects. First, he went for the now fragile metal skull. He quickly tossed screws to the side, and traded out the parts so that Red looked...uncrushed, at the very least.

Teeth were replaced. Scrapers were added on and fused down. He popped open where the motherboard was, internally groaning at the additional damage before quickly swapping out what he could. Little metal bits were rusted, but not fried, and he released Red’s treads and traded them for some rugged ones folded up to the side.

Frantically, he looked over the rebuilt bot, trying to see what he was missing, before nearly smacking himself. Right! The sun!

With a jolt, he shot out the ceiling-another apology needed, and looked over at Red’s shell sitting still on new(ish) treads.

Slow beeps were his answer, and then faster, and then the jingle that meant Red was fully charged. He perked up, fingers tapping anxiously together as the eye lights flickered on, the scrapers flexing as he rose a bit to stand rather than be on standby.

“RED?”

Red stared at him, with...a frown on his face? Was he mad? Blue would be mad, he supposed, if he had been injured so severely. He hesitated before reaching out. “UM, I’M SO-”

Red’s eye lights flickered, and he turned, scrapers held at his sides, then turned again towards that odd screen.

...he was looking for orders.

He was trying to find the terminal to download his orders.

No, no, Red knew what his directive was, he told Blue as such! Blue hovered in front of him again, smiling nervously. “R-RED IT’S ME! HOW D-DO YOU FEEL? ARE ALL YOUR UPDATES IN PLACE?”

Red didn’t answer, just a small sound of static between them and Blue’s hovering boots making the small thrumming noise they often did. He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again as he reached out and touched Red’s shoulder.

Red didn’t move.

Blue shut his eyes, and wrapped both arms around Red tightly. “I’M SO SORRY…”

Fatal errors were devastating to a robot, or rather, any machinery. It rolled back settings and options and memories that the item held, and sometimes the object ceased to function as it no longer knew how to operate as it should.

Robots were similar, all their knowledge, and everything about them went down into the recycle bin. It would be nigh on impossible for them to recover who Red was, and moreso, it would be dangerous as a huge information dump like that would overload the servers if done as fast as they could.

So, Blue was sorry. Sorry for the robot that was, and all the information lost to time now. Sorry for their short time together that now would boil down to nothing.

(Perhaps, perhaps, a small voice spoke, perhaps they could...rebuild. It’d be slow, and hard perhaps, but...Blue would be willing to do so.)

Blue slowly released Red, pressing a kiss to his forehead again, sighing softly as he did so. Okay. Okay. He had to go and help the others...Red wouldn’t move, so he would be safe. “I’LL BE BACK. I PROMISE.”

He gave Red a small grin, and received nothing in return.

Right.

He turned, his hands trailing away from Red’s shoulders, gently touching a scraper...and then getting caught in it. He frowned, pulling back and staring at their hands, wiggling them a bit. An instinctual thing, curling around anything in reach. He tried to pull away, but paused, staring at Red.

His eye lights flickered, turning from the dull red lights to brighter ones, flicking back and forth for a moment in confusion. His other scraper curled in towards his chassis, tapping a rhythm against it nervously before blinking faster. “...Bluuuue?”

Blue gasped. “RED!”

Red blinked again, then squeaked at their curled hands, lights flickering around his face as he burbled nervously but Blue laughed and yanked him up, spinning them in place.

Red, confused, a little tired, but otherwise okay, was...not going to argue this one bit. After all, he liked it when Blue picked him up. It was fun! He crooned, nuzzling up and chittering as the other ‘bots came revving into view in front of the blasted open truck. “BB!”

“RED!” yipped the tiny bot, holding up his brush, and Blue let Red down so they could meet their newly acquired friends.

Yeah.

Everything would be okay.

~~

Red whistled as he rolled through the dust of the ground, BB in sleep mode attached to the handle on his back. He paused, turning around and whistling at the group behind him.

They weren’t far from the Outer Tale, and it was agreed that, for now, they wouldn’t try and expand out too far so as to keep close to one another. However, no one knew the layout of where they were (of course)...except, Red did.

When asked if he knew of places they could stay in...well...he didn’t quite get it.

Red blinked at the Captain, Sans, and then at Blue, tilting his head. Sans sighed. “Red, we really need your help to find...um, shelter, yeah?” He scratched his cheek as Blue nodded.

“THE HUMANS SLEEP IN HOMES AND ROOMS, REMEMBER?”

Red blinked, then cracked a grin. “Bluuuue!”

Blue sighed, a little frustrated, but not annoyed. It wasn’t Red’s fault he wasn’t loaded with the appropriate language packs. “I’M NOT SURE WHAT ELSE TO DO…”

“I-I...can…”

They turned from where they were, staring at the large robot with the little pointed fingers. ALPHYS seemed to pause, then waved one hand, to which Red waved back with a whistle. “I-I am loaded with a-all computing languages, i-in case um, we ever...reverted…”

“Well,” Sans said, clapping his hands. “Can you try and talk to him? We need this, ALPHYS. I’m still working on making you mobile…”

“I-I know, sir. Um…” ALPHYS paused, then started making noises that only Blue could hear, which still sounded like gibberish to him.

‘The humans, um, they-they need shelters...do you remember them...l-living in them?’

‘Yes!’ Red chirped, although it sounded like snaps and pops of static. ‘I-I-I used to see them-them! Back then. They need more-more?’

‘Yess…’ she paused, thinking. ‘Perhaps, if you know of um, places th-that aren’t filled with trash...you can take th-them to it?’

Red quickly agreed, especially when it meant Blue would be coming with, and so they rounded up a few of the denizens of the ship to follow along, and off they went.

Under the scorching sun, Red led them down a strip created over time by him and his fellow REDs. It was a little far, but not so far as to lose sight of the ship. Red whistled as he slowed, whirring in place excitedly as Blue caught up to him, looking over where they were.

They were...odd buildings. Not made of trash like several others, but steel and wood? Some were in good condition considering, while others were filled with sand, or the windows were broken out, or a door was missing. Blue nodded as Sans, panting and sweating with his coat tied around his waist, finally caught up. “Did...we...make it?” he wheezed, a watch on his arm that contained Papyrus’ AI.

He forgave Papyrus for everything, after all, he knew and understood that he was just following orders. Blue held a grudge, it seemed, but Red seemed either pleasantly naive over the whole thing, had forgotten it, or was very easily hiding it deep down.

Sans wasn’t sure, although, he didn’t see Red as the unforgiving type.

All the same, Papyrus knew to be scarce from the two bots, at least for now.

Red whistled and chittered, nodding around them as he twirled in place. On a broken green sign, it read ‘Titus’.

Huh. What could that mean?

Either way, Sans nodded, sighing as he stood up straight, wiping his arm across his sweaty forehead as the other residents started to congregate. “Thank you, Red. We’ll start ripping and gearing things up for some of us to start living here...um...I guess you can continue what you were doing?”

Red chirped cheerily, and Blue nodded. “I SHALL ACCOMPANY HIM THEN. HE HAS A TRUCK THAT HE LIVES IN, PERHAPS WE COULD GET THAT RUNNING?”

“Hm,” Sans nodded slowly. “I don’t know much about old Earth mechanics, but I’m thinking we could get it up and going, if nothing else but to have Red nearby.”

“AND IT WOULD HOLD A FEW OF THE CITIZENS, I WOULD THINK.” Blue nodded. “WE ARE OFF THEN!”

Sans waved them on and Red happily chased after Blue, trilling a song after him as the sleeping BB awoke and chirped at them angrily for getting Red’s skull the slightest bit dirty. He started scrubbing it, making Red sputter and Blue laughed.

One small step...for a long journey ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bruh I just saw an app for slime
> 
> *for slime*
> 
> anyway I wanna draw my two robo babies one day. Take this update for now UwU

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Healing Catalyst](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24631501) by [Nanenna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nanenna/pseuds/Nanenna)




End file.
